The majority of world leaders are expected to participate in the opening of the 70th session of the General Assembly this year. Apart from the heads of state and/or government, Pope Francis I is expected to address the Assembly, too. His speech has been scheduled for September 25.

This will be the first papal trip to New York over the past twenty years.

In recent years, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been leading the Russian delegations to the General Assembly sessions. President Dmitry Medvedev addressed the UN in 2009.

Vladimir Putin attended the opening of the General Assembly session in 2005 when the organization turned 60 years old.